Commentary (October 2008) By Armand de Mestral, Jean Monnet Professor of Law at McGill University.
In 2007, after concluding negotiations with the United States, the European Commission invited Canada to negotiate a new single air transport services agreement with the EU, to replace Canada’s existing agreements with seventeen EU Member States and presumably with the other states that have joined the EU Common Aviation Area. Canada might have been better advised to negotiate with the Commission before the EU – USA negotiations, or to join with the United States in attempting to negotiate a North Atlantic Open Skies Agreement with the EU. However, counsels of prudence prevailed, and Canada must now work with the existing EU – USA model that has been established.
